The measure, as amended, expands existing sanctions against North Korea by restricting access to the U.S. financial system for entities aiding North Korea, requiring enhanced inspections of ships and aircraft, and holding North Korean officials accountable for human rights violations and cybersecurity attacks. It also requires mandatory sanctions on individuals that sell or buy North Korean minerals, including coal and steel as well as the blacklisting of any individual complicit in North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.

The conference report on the legislation strengthens enforcement of U.S. trade agreements and intellectual property rights by creating a Trade Enforcement Trust Fund within the Treasury to enforce international trade agreements. It also creates a division within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prevent trade remedy evasion. It establishes a National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to coordinate federal efforts to prevent intellectual property violations. The bill also makes permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access.

The conference report on the legislation strengthens enforcement of U.S. trade agreements and intellectual property rights by creating a Trade Enforcement Trust Fund within the Treasury to enforce international trade agreements. It also creates a division within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prevent trade remedy evasion. It establishes a National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to coordinate federal efforts to prevent intellectual property violations. The bill also makes permanent the ban on state and local taxation of Internet access.

The bill allows the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award grants or enter into cooperative agreements for basic research and science education only if it determines that the grant or cooperative agreement promotes the progress of science in the United States and is consistent with the NSF’s mission.

Rep. Louise Slaughter voted NO

Debt Reduction Plans – Passage – Vote Passed (267-151, 15 Not Voting)

The measure requires the Treasury secretary to appear before Congress within a couple of months before the federal government is projected to reach the legal debt limit and report on the state of the nation’s public debt and the drivers of increasing debt, the impact of increasing debt and the administration’s plans for reducing debt in the short, medium and long terms.

The final version of the legislation expands existing sanctions against North Korea by restricting access to the U.S. financial system for entities aiding North Korea, requiring enhanced inspections of ships and aircraft, and holding North Korean officials accountable for human rights violations and cybersecurity attacks. It also requires mandatory sanctions on individuals that sell or buy North Korean minerals, including coal and steel as well as the blacklisting of any individual complicit in North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.